thanks, karen. love your mississippi outdoors. i vote for your florida beaches, dawn. bill, this louisiana seafood is delicious. we're having such a great year on the gulf, we've decided to put aside our rivalry. now is the perfect time to visit anyone of our states. the beaches and waters couldn't be more beautiful. take a boat ride, go fishing or just lay in the sun. we've got coastline to explore and wildlife to photograph. and there's world class dining with our world famous seafood. so for a great vacation this year, come to the gulf. its all fabulous but i give florida the edge. right after mississippi. you mean alabama. say louisiana or there's no dessert. this invitation is brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. >>> even with all the fiscal cliff worries and headlines, there has been a lot of data this week. we got new home sales yesterday, 2 1/2 year high. of course, claims, we'll get chicago pmi in a few seconds here. and later on this morning, pending homes. for the pmi, let's get to chicago and rick santelli with that data. >> indeed, on